A team of three Rocket League competitors placed second in Xfinity’s Run it Back Esports series on Oct. 25. The finals were hosted at Oregon State University in front of an audience of nearly 200 people, with the OSU team falling to Drexel University.
Rocket League is a popular Esports game where two teams of players controlling rocket-powered cars attempt to push a giant ball into the opponent’s goal, similar to soccer.
“It was just a really fun time and a good space for people to come and hang out and see what the Esports program is really all about,” said Sunny Winchell, president of the Esports club.
According to Winchell, she joined the OSU Esports club as an event coordinator in 2022 after transferring from Arizona State University where she was already the event coordinator for their Esports program.
“When I first joined, there wasn’t really a community built around it,” Winchell said. “When you have these teams, I’ve always felt that it’s really important that you have some sort of support system, people who back you, people who believe in you. That’s where community comes in.”
Winchell created events that allowed people to play and interact with members of the club promoting the growth of Esports at OSU.
She has even organized guest speakers to describe their experience in the industry because according to Winchell Esports are an industry and job opportunity for students like any other sport. She started these events in 2022 and since then almost 200 members have joined.
Winchell says that being in the club has even helped her regarding her business information systems major.
“It’s taught me how to engage with people in a professional setting, work with real companies and how to be a leader,” Winchell said.
Esports at OSU currently has teams for Valorant, League of Legends, Overwatch, Rocket League, Counter-Strike 2, Omega Strikers and Apex Legends.
If students are interested in getting involved with Esports at OSU Winchell encourages them to join their Discord which has instructions and contact information for all the teams and members.
